'The Way' has plenty of appeal and the story behind it is a moving one, but it does feel like a missed opportunity. While anybody who enjoys road trip style films will probably get some pleasure out of 'The Way', it's only engaging for so long and unfortunately doesn't have the depth of plot required for a 2 hour long film.It's around the halfway point when the film really starts to run low on ideas. It becomes repetitive and dull, and in its desperation it resorts to some very unconvincing and poorly written situations. Most notably, the scene where the characters get drunk and start trading insults, which felt totally unnatural and didn't match the atmosphere of the film.

The premise of this film doesn't sound too bad: 'A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while travelling the "El camino de Santiago," and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.' If you can imagine a good film along those lines then I'd recommend leaving it at that. If there's one lesson to be learnt from this movie, it's that life is too precious to waste two hours of yours watching it.Martin Sheen's decent performance in the face of a weak plot, unconvincing dialogue and substandard production values is one of the only redeeming features. He described it as the best role that had ever been written for him but you have to wonder if he would have said that or indeed gone anywhere near this project had his son not been the writer and director.I have recently done this walk and it is a great experience. There are incredible vistas along the way as well as long barren stretches, none of which are captured here with any great degree of skill or imagination. It looks like someone's first attempt having done an evening course in filmmaking and, checking out the director's filmography, that's not (relatively speaking) too far off the mark.You also meet interesting characters along the actual Camino but being real, three-dimensional people, they bear absolutely no resemblance to the ones depicted here. One of the few things that the makers of this production actually managed to achieve was matching the general quality of the acting performances with the quality of everything else - it was all below par.With a running time of 2 hours (that feels like an eternity) you can't help but feel that they should have been a bit more liberal with the scissors in the editing suite. It does beg the question though: which bits would actually merit being left in?You may get the impression that I'm not the kind of person this film is aimed at. On the contrary, I imagine that my sensibilities would put me very much in the target market. My favourite films are ones with themes of hope, fraternity and triumph of the human spirit. I think The Way attempts to capture these motifs but just doesn't manage it in any sense.One of the genres listed for this film is comedy but the only really humorous aspect of it unfolds as it descends into a surreal game of "Where's Wally?" as you wonder 'where is the wally responsible for writing and directing this thing going to pop up next?'...Every now and then Emilio Estevez's dead character (who looks more like a swollen corpse than I think was the intention) jarringly appears in more and more ridiculous places. It really wouldn't have seemed that incongruous had his head popped out of a toilet as Sheen's Tom had gone to relieve himself from the torture of having to converse with his insufferable walking companions.Unfortunately the worst legacy of this film is that it is ruining the Camino de Santiago not just in its second-rate depiction of it but in actuality as thousands of baby boomer retired Americans flock to France and Spain in order to find themselves and presumably implausible fat Dutchmen called Joost and obnoxious Canadian women called Sarah. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against anyone doing the walk who wants to and certainly nothing against the people of that great country. But when you've walked 30km to your destination with a 15kg pack on your back only to be greeted by people piling out of a taxi, having paid for their bags to be sent on, joining the queue for the accommodation that's meant to be reserved for walkers it does leave a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth. This is especially true when it means that you have to either sleep outside (this actually happened) or walk another 6km to the next town with no guarantee of a place to stay there either.Also, don't think that my experiences on the walk clouded my objective view of this film. I was looking forward to seeing what had inspired so many people to make their trip and was hoping to relive the countless positive memories I'd had. This just wasn't what I found.You never really find out what it was that killed Estevez's character in The Way, I can only assume that this and indeed the whole film is some kind of a metaphor for the suicide note to his directing career that it is.

When the Americans make a film about the Europe they made product interesting only to Americans. The story is beautiful and the landscapes through which the actors are going unforgettable. But scenario is a weak point. Many platitudes and clichés. Characters from Europe are displayed with American models of behavior. Music is unadapted, especially modern music. The only song that was adapted to the movie scene is Spanish song on Gypsy celebration. The scene at the end when the main characters come to the cathedral is poor. There is take away the natural tone and inserted ambient music. The acting is good. But stereotypes are ruin the movie. This film should have to make some Spanish or French director.

The Way is a film about a younger man who wants to go his own way while his rich father encourages him to lead a more predictable path. For similar films, see 3 Idiots, a Bollywood gem. Emilio Estevez chooses to trek across southern France to Spain on the Camino to Santiago, an 800 km hike. Bad news happens quickly, and you soon find his father, Martin Sheen, in France taking care of family business. The part that is somewhat difficult to believe is that Sheen can go from a pretty sedentary life, to suddenly hiking 800 kms without a hitch.But it is the journey that counts, and he meets 3 interesting characters who accompany him on El Camino, The Way. It is these interactions with Joost from Holland, Jack from Ireland, and Sarah from Canada that the director Estevez weaves meaning in and out of the story. You learn about the characters, why they are doing this, what drives them, and you slowly see Martin Sheen change before your eyes as the experiences of being on the road open his eyes to more than he normally sees in his offices in California.The Way will make you cry, and laugh, and feel good about the friends you make, and have already made. It is one of those films, like It's a Wonderful Life, where you have to play with the hand you are dealt and learn to appreciate the good things and possibilities that away you on your own journey.My only critique is that the movie did run a big long at just over 2 hours. It could have easily been trimmed down 15 minutes without any loss of quality.You will really like the Way. Enjoy.